Review

Review Summary: In their return, Yob describe the birth of a gigantic black hole in terms of their extreme noise/doom dialect.

With Yob splitting up after the release of The Unreal Never Lived, the obscure link, bonding the “white noise” doom approach of bands like Sunn O)) with the Volume 4 era of Black Sabbath, was broken. Scheidt’s next project, Middian, turned out to be a half-hearted attempt to forge that missing link from scratch. Almost always, though, the means to an end is right in front of oneself. All Scheidt had to do was to put the pieces of the puzzle back together. And so it was conceived, The Great Cessation.

In their return, Yob describe the birth of a gigantic black hole, in terms of their extreme noise/doom dialect, . The opening riff of “Burning the Altar”, except from being one of the best riffs ever conceived in metal history, serves as the first devastating sign that Yob’s black hole is here to pull the whole universe into its hardcore. Make no mistake; the only way to proceed is deeper and deeper downward. This descent is split into several axes. It’s the ritualistic rhythm section. It’s the ultra-heavy yet groovy noise/doom rhythm guitar riffs pacing along with the subliminally mesmerizing electric (or semi-acoustic) leads, cropped within the songs. Finally, it is the demented sounds that Scheidt weaves, either with his psychedelic clean voice or with his profoundly deep guttural vocals. Different shades of a world where even light cannot escape.

It’s simply amazing how the band manages to sound minimal and yet so undeniably interesting with only five songs. 3 songs go mid-tempo, strictly in the extreme groove doom vein, yet they are different the one from the other; one is sludgy as hell, whereas the self-titled is a doom elegy of epic proportions. Overall, the feeling is a pure noise/doom orgasm. The copious delving into isolated songs or the whole record is favored, because of the high quality of the material. However, repeated listens can be a torture, yet an orgasmic one. Accounting for past Yob work, this album could be loosely linked to Yob’s second effort, Catharsis, due to its mesmerizing feel, however this is by far dirtier, baring an occult aura as well.

The production is as it should be. It is raw and unpolished. A thin layer of noise stands above all instruments. The guitars' sound is dirty and devastating, while the re-verb effect is used to emphasize the main melody of some songs or enhance the mesmerizing feeling of Scheidt’s clean vocals. Despite the ultra-heavy guitar sound, the bass remains audible here and there and is a solid companion in minimalism to the drums.

In The Great Cessation,Yob make a monumental return to form, exploiting only a certain portion of their huge potential. It is unknown whether this effort will grow the band’s fan base. One thing is for certain, though. This band simply can never fail.